A demand for grilled meat flavor led to the development of a process for producing such flavors as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,342 of DiCicca et al. That process which has enjoyed considerable commercial success involves subjecting a thin film of fat or oil to temperatures within the range of about 300.degree. F. to about 855.degree. F. in the presence of oxygen. The thin film of oil or fat is subjected to the elevated temperature for a period of time which is effective to develop a charcoal or charred meaty flavor and the fat or oil is collected to prepare a flavoring composition.
A more recent development of Schulman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,538 produces a charcoal broiled flavor by subjecting a thin film of fat or oil to a temperature of at least 600.degree. F. for a period of time less than 2 minutes to exothermically heat the fat or oil to at least 650.degree. F. The heated fat or oil is then rapidly cooled to less than 220.degree. F. and a minor fraction of the exothermically heated oil is spent as waste vapor. In this approach, there is a 10-20% dissipation of the smoky constituents which contain tarry and acrid notes.
It is now believed that there is a continuing demand for an improved process and apparatus wherein trapped aerosols can be used to provide an intense grill flavor. It is also believed that there is a significant demand for such a process and apparatus wherein more intensive flavors are produced at a competitive cost and in a competitively priced apparatus.